Combination of plant sterols and diacylglycerol oil lowers serum cholesterol and lipoprotein (a) concentrations in postmenopausal women with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia

Abstract

Summary Background & aims Atherogenic blood lipoprotein levels are dramatically increased during menopause. The solubilization of plant sterols (PS) in a diacylglycerol (DAG)-rich oil has recently been proposed as a more effective method of incorporating PS into food products; however, the effect of PS solubilized in DAG oil on serum lipid abnormalities in women after menopause is unknown. The effect of the daily consumption of DAG oil containing PS (4 wt%, PS/DAG) oil on serum lipid parameters was examined in postmenopausal women. Methods Fourteen postmenopausal women with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia were randomly assigned to treatment with either PS/DAG or DAG (control) oil, and were instructed to replace the ordinary cooking oils used at home for 4 weeks in a crossover manner. Results The average intake of PS from the PS/DAG and control oils were 563 and 50 mg/day, respectively ( P =0.001). During control period, no effect on serum triacylglycerol and cholesterol concentrations was observed. Serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein B concentrations reduced by 10.2% ( P =0.004), 12.1% ( P =0.003) and 9.7% ( P =0.001) during the PS/DAG oil period compared to the control period, respectively. In addition, a slight but significant ( P =0.023) reduction in serum lipoprotein(a) concentration was observed, especially, in subjects with higher levels of baseline values (>20 mg/dL). Conclusions Dietary PS/DAG oil may be a useful adjunct for the management not only of blood cholesterols, but also of lipoprotein (a) in postmenopausal women.